Losing Humanity
by Thayra131
Summary: An unknown force has destroyed modern life as we know it, and Aaron and Josh are caught up in the chaos. Life becomes a daily struggle for survival, and a battle to keep their humanity.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Before  
**

The warm August weather brought with it a feeling of lethargy and England's air was heavy. The general noise of the world was somewhat muted, and people went about their daily business unrushed.

In the middle of the month Aaron and Josh set out from the city of Leeds towards the countryside to a camping site, the latter of the young men with a quiet reluctance. They would be staying two nights, and taking the time to enjoy the weather and walk across some of the surrounding moors. As he drove, Aaron saw his friend's skepticism at the prospect of the trip, and sympathised, but tried to make him see the fun of it.

"Mate, it's not just sightseeing, it's good for you. Refreshing. You were the one saying we should do something in the Summer." He was taller than Josh, and his light brown hair just touched the roof of the car.

"Yeh, I know! I'm not complaining. Yet. But you realise I'm just in it for the marshmallows?" With his usual humour Josh let out a reassuring grin. He rubbed the lenses of his glasses on the bottom of his t-shirt.

After driving for two hours they neared the campsite, on a narrow country road, miles from any cities. Josh had his head down, looking at a map.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure it's down the road on the left. Just there... No, wait - try the next left."

"Jesus, come on dude." Aaron muttered, having to drive jerkily to keep up with the uncertain directions.

"Well if I could use GPS I'd be fine, but there's no phone signal out here." There was a slight salt to Josh's tone, but he knew there was no point making a fuss about little things.

When they made it to the site they turned right into the entrance. Just as the car bounced up onto the uneven slope, another car came quickly round the corner, braking suddenly and blaring it's horn, but hitting the back of their car with some force. They were thrown forwards in their seats, but Aaron slowed down calmly while Josh turned to look at the person behind them, who soon came screeching past, reaching the field of the campsite before them.

"What the fuck! What an asshole." Josh said, throwing the map onto the back seat with a thud.

"He hit my fucking car! It better not be too bad." Aaron watched the bright red car swing widely into the camping area, and followed after it, visibly irritated.

They found themselves a spot near the edge of the field. There were a few other groups, some families, a few other pairs or trios of friends, a group of cyclists and then the car they had encountered when they arrived. In it were five guys, just a little older than Josh and Aaron.

"Well that's gonna cost a little to fix. Bastard. I bet they're gonna be really loud as well." Aaron sighed as he inspected the dent in the back of his car.

"Hey, just ignore them. No point getting mixed up with people like that." Josh gestured that they should start unloading the car.

Despite the rowdy neighbours, the pair managed to help each other set up their tents and cooked some food they had brought with them with only a few burns. The next evening, after walking a substantial distance, Aaron and Josh were getting ready for the night.

Josh had a video camera and was filming the area, making a commentary on their trip. He had been trying to get Aaron to speak to the camera, but eventually turned to the rest of the campsite.

"... aaand over there are the pro-cycling people, the family with hilarious kids and in the corner are the Almighty Douchebags!"

Aaron let out a laugh and sat down, opening a can of cider. "Why are you filming?"

"I might upload it later, why not?" He was looking at the camcorder and as he turned back to his friend and was about to speak when he noticed a figure appear on the screen, approaching them. "Hey, look." He warned quietly, tucking the camera away in his backpack.

"Oh, it's one of the 'Almighty Douchebags'" Aaron scoffed, still annoyed at them.

As the stranger got closer, they saw he looked uncomfortable, glancing back at the rest of his group, who had just returned from somewhere and were shouting and laughing rowdily. He seemed a little younger than the rest.

"Uh, hi. Sorry, I was hoping you could help me..." He looked sheepishly at Aaron and Josh, and after a moment, "I'm sorry about your car, man. It's Frankie, he can be, well-" Aaron, possibly feeling sorry for him, or possibly being more forgiving thanks to being a little tipsy, held up a hand and shrugged.

"Hey, it wasn't you driving, yeah? Then no harm done, mate. But for the record, Frankie is a dickhead."  
"Thanks, I'm still sorry though." The stranger was still being cautious, but was fighting down a smile.

"What was it you wanted?" Josh asked.

"Oh, right. Well, the thing is, we went to this nearby village to go to the pub and I got this text from my girlfriend on the way back," he reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, showing them the text, "and now I don't have any signal and I didn't read this until just now. I was wondering if you had a phone with signal I could borrow, I'm worried."

They leaned in to see the screen. It read _'You need to come home, something weird is happening. Call me back ASAP.' _Then another text, sent an hour later. _'Where are you?! Come home, now.' _And a final text: _'I love you.' _

"Shit... I wish we could help but we lost signal ages ago. Sorry, man." Josh frowned, genuinely feeling for the guy.

"Couldn't you go back to the town?" Aaron was standing now, the texts were unusual, and he too sympathised at the stranger's concern.

"Nah, it's fine... It would take too long and I can't get there on my own. I'm sure it's nothing really. We're going back tomorrow anyway. Thanks, though." He turned away, deflated.

"Wait, what's your name?" Aaron stopped him.

"Matthew. Well, Matt." He turned back, pausing for a moment.

"I'm sure she's fine, mate. Try not to worry." Aaron smiled reassuringly, and he and Josh watched Matthew walk back to his group, puzzled.

The next morning most of the campsite was empty, and Aaron and Josh packed their things, ready to head home. They shared a nod of the head with Matt, who they saw as they were leaving, and drove back toward the city. The surrounding countryside was as peaceful as ever, though when they reached a B-Road they noticed a few more vehicles passing in the other direction than would be expected this far out. A few of the cars sounded their horns as they sped past, one car seemed to have a passenger lying across another on the back seats, and a van came careening round a sharp corner, large bags and supplies strapped hurriedly to the roof, almost causing a collision.

"Jesus, what is going on today? Why is everyone acting so crazy?" Aaron wasn't driving this time, and he became more and more on edge at the unusual behaviour of people around them. He frowned behind his aviator sunglasses.

Soon they were driving through a road with woodland on either side, when Aaron noticed something. A flash of yellow amongst the bushes, near the side of the road.

"Dude, slow down. Slow down for a second, I saw something." He leaned forward, craning his neck to see, while Josh slowed the car, confused.

"Why are you-" He began to ask, but Aaron suddenly reacted to something.

"Holy shit, it's a person. Pull over, stop the car! She's hurt or something." He was already undoing his seatbelt, and rushed out of the car to the side of the road. Josh got out and followed uncertainly.

When they reached her they saw that it was a young girl, with bright blond hair, and lying seemingly unconscious, her clothes dirtied and scratches and bruises on her small limbs. Aaron knelt down next to her, carefully turning her onto her back and listening for her shallow breaths.

"Ever the hero, aren't you? Here." Josh passed his friend a bottle of water, which he used to dab her face and try to wake her up. "What do we do?"

"We can't exactly leave her... We can go past the hospital in the city, let's try to get her in the back of the car. What is she doing out here? She doesn't have anything with her. She only looks about thirteen." Aaron ran his hand through his hair, slightly panicked.

Quite awkwardly, they carried her to the car and managed to lay her down across the back seats. Aaron decided to take the wheel again, and instructed Josh to keep an eye on the girl, and make sure she was still breathing. They sped off towards the dual carriageway that would give them a direct path to the city. The pair were concerned, but overall perplexed at what they had seen. Matt's texts, the mad drivers and now a girl, alone and hurt on the side of a road.

Josh was holding the girl's wrist to feel for her pulse. He saw that a few inches down her arm was a deep line, which suggested she had been grazed by a bullet, but the blood had dried around it. "Is it me or does today feel like it's going to be one of those days?" He tried to lighten the mood.

Aaron kept his gaze ahead, his thoughts elsewhere. "I know what you mean." He muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Aftermath  
**

"Oh, finally, back to civilisation!" Josh declared, looking at his phone as it finally found connection.

They had almost reached the main roads, and the girl's condition had changed little, though she was breathing deeper, as if now soundly asleep rather than knocked out. A moment later, both of the men's mobiles lit up, and a torrent of messages and alerts flooded in.

"Jesus, I have, like, twenty missed calls. Why are my parents calling me?" Josh began scrolling through messages not unlike the ones they had seen on Matt's phone. He reached over to where Aaron's phone was, and saw that it was the same story. His face became more and more contorted with confusion and a unsettling anxiety. "Something's off, something is really not right, Aaron."

"What is it? What do they say?" Aaron spoke evenly but was very much on edge, glancing over his shoulder at the girl.

They approached the dual carriageway a little fast, as they tried to gather what was going on.

" 'Police and military down, don't trust anyone'." Josh read, his eyes skipping between the screens. "I tried replying but the message won't send."

"What the _fuck_ does that mean? Try calling someone."

"Alright!" Josh fumbled with his own phone before dialing his parents. The phone went directly to an automated message, saying that whoever he was trying to reach was disconnected. "It's not working, says they're cut off."

"Has my family contacted me? Josh, give it here-" Aaron was trying to peek at the messages for himself, and as he was distracted, the car emerged from the side road too fast and he saw the carriageway late. "_Shit_!"

He slammed down on the brakes, skidding to the left to avoid going straight onto the main road. A huge armoured truck was on its side, blocking the slip road, surrounded by large debris. The letters S.W.A.T were just distinguishable on the body of the vehicle, which had been almost completely destroyed. The men sat for a moment, tense, staring out at the mess that was now directly in front of them.

"Shit. I'm sorry, are you alright?" Aaron turned off the engine, glancing over to Josh, who had dropped the phones and was clutching the door bar.

"Yeah, I'm - I'm fine. You?" He managed. Aaron nodded.

They got slowly out of the car to see what was going on and walked carefully towards the truck, scanning up and down the road.

A small blue car was lying upside down, balanced over the central reservation, the wheels twisted out of place. Near it, a jeep with the two doors on its left side missing and the roof caved in, and further down the road were more abandoned and wrecked vehicles. Aaron walked over to the Swat Van, but what caught his attention was lying on the ground a few feet from it. A figure, strangely limp, lying on its back. It must have been one of the Swat Team, head to toe in strong black armour and a large helmet.

"Hey, careful." Josh gave a hushed call, staying a little back as he continued looking at the cars further down the road.

"I am." Aaron kept level-headed, approaching the figure with clenched fists, slightly hunched over, poised. But what he saw was unexpected and he didn't know what to make of it.

"...What the hell? Hey, look at this."

Josh came over to stand next to his friend, and peered down at the figure. It soon became clear that the armoured suit was badly damaged. The tough exterior had been warped by the heat of a fire, but what was most unusual was the fact that there was a neat rupture all the way down the front of the suit, from the top of the chest to the legs. Even the helmet had been completely split down the middle. Whoever had been wearing the suit was gone, it was nothing but an empty shell.

"What do you think happened? Someone saved him from the fire?" Josh wondered, looking at the armoured truck, which still had a few areas still burning steadily.

"Looks like it, but how exactly do you split open armour like that? It would take a normal person ages to hack through, and it looks like whatever happened here was chaos, not the kind of time when you can wait around." Aaron was thinking things through logically, but both of the men were deeply unsettled by what was around them. They still had no idea what was going on, and might well be stranded with a stranger in the back of their car.

After searching the truck they moved down the road a little, until Josh spotted an ambulance that had run into a ditch on the right hand side of the road. Aaron climbed dexterously in through the open back doors, balancing carefully against the awkward angle, grabbing anything that looked useful. Unfortunately it seemed that someone else had already done the same, and it was slim pickings. Unable to get anything that could help the girl,they eventually returned to their own car. No other people were in sight.

"She's still out. But breathing." Josh bentover the girl, holding two fingers to her neck and listening for her breaths.

"Good. I guess we should try to get closer to the city? I mean, there could be people there who could help her." Aaron leant on the bonnet of the car, turning away from Josh, beginning to feel overwhelmed. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I don't see what else we can do." Josh rubbed his face, trying to wake himself up from the haze that had been keeping him from panicking. But now the numbness was beginning to lift, and he couldn't keep calm any longer. His voice was tense. "Aaron, what the fuck is going on? _This_," he gestured wildly at the cluttered road, "this isn't right, this isn't something that just _happens_! There should be police sectioning it off, there should be people everywhere! I don't _get it! ..._HEY!" He slammed his hand down on the car to snap his friend out of it.

Aaron was taken aback, but he too was losing his composure. He turned, taking a couple of steps back. "You think I know any more than you? Look around, mate, that _was_ the police! And they got blown to pieces!" He pointed at the armoured truck.

"I'm not saying you would know, I'm just saying don't try and block it out. It's ok to be scared, cause I'm freaking out too, we just need to figure out what to do without-" Josh rushed his words, unsure of what he was even trying to say.

"I'm fine! We'll think of a plan!" Aaron's voice became more strained.

"You don't have to be fine! That's what I'm trying to say. You don't have to play it cool and know exactly what to do next. I know how much you'd love it but you can't always be like Batman, because we're just normal people! We'll figure things out. Ok? We will. Just work with me here." Josh surprised even himself with these words, driven by a genuine caring for his best friend.

Aaron was breathing heavily. After a long pause, he walked slowly to the car and rested his elbows on the roof, running his hands through his hair. "I know. I know, I'm sorry. It's just... this is so messed up. I'm worried."

"Yeah, it is. But we're not gonna find any answers here. We should still head for the city, right?" Josh asked cautiously.

"It's our only option really." Aaron stood upright, seemingly more self-assured. "I can drive. Maybe we'll find people who can help the girl."

As they got into the car, Josh checked their mobiles again. Still no luck.

"And hey, thanks. We'll be alright." Aaron gave a smile, which Josh returned, relieved that things were less tense.

Aaron drove slowly around the truck, edging down the side until it was clear, when he sped up to reach the city as soon as possible. Josh watched the overturned truck disappear behind them. Along the road into the city were a few more cars damaged or crashed. Most of them were on the other side, suggesting they had been driving out of the city at the time. But apart from those it was fairly clear, and they still hadn't bumped into anyone else.

They were an hours drive from the city when the girl, who was still lying across the back seats, woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Run**

As they came around a long curve in the road, something up ahead came into view. A figure was walking near the middle of the road. Aaron began slowing down.

"Hey, look! Do you think it's the police? Looks like a uniform or something." Josh leaned forwards slightly, eager to find another person who could help them in any way.

"Could be! Oh, man, thank God. I was getting really worried." Aaron smiled, relief washing over him.

As they neared the figure, it became clear that it was a man, very tall, well built, and wearing grey plated body armour, and a heavy helmet, which reminded the men of the empty swat suit they had seen earlier, though it was oddly shaped. The figure was holding a large gun, which looked strange and almost futuristic. But the strangest thing about the gun was that it was pointed straight at Josh and Aaron.

"Uh, is he going to?" Josh tensed up.

"No way, he must think we're a danger to him. We need to let him know we just need help. I'll pull over. And be careful, we don't know what's been going on or what he's doing out here." Aaron stopped the car a fair distance from the strange figure, who had raised his palm to signal them to stop. The men got out of the car, leaving their doors open just in case.

There was a forest to the left of the road, and ahead the outline of distant buildings could just be seen. The armoured figure approached Aaron and Josh, not lowering his gun.

Josh cleared his throat and shouted to the man. "Uh, hi, Officer? We're not going to do anything, we need help, could you-" But the figure didn't seem to take this well, and pointed his gun directly at Josh, walking faster towards him. The men raised their hands into the air, signalling that they meant no harm. "Oh, well that's just a little rude." Josh gave a half smile to cover his panic.

"Woah, ok. Josh I don't think he's with the police." Aaron said, walking backwards. The figure was still at least 100 metres from them, but he certainly didn't seem friendly.

At that moment a sound from behind them made them jump. The car's back door had flung open, and the girl climbed out. Unbeknownst to the two men, she had woken up ten minutes ago, and had been watching their encounter. She looked at the approaching figure, letting out a cry that sounded like a whimper, and began trying to run in the opposite direction, but her left leg seemed hurt and she was limping visibly.

"HEY!" Aaron yelled, shocked at her sudden appearance, but as the two were focused on her, moving as if to stop her, there was a loud bang that seemed to rupture the air around them, and they both ducked, terrified. They watched the girl as her head was thrown violently to the right by the oncoming bullet, bending her small neck unnaturally, red blood streaking through the air, and her body's momentum carrying her forwards a few feet before she crumpled to the ground, dead.

"No-" Aaron gasped. His ears ringing, he got up and turned to see the figure lowering its gun and turning once more to approach them. Josh couldn't take his eyes off the girl's body, seeing it fall like paper to the ground over and over in his head, mouth agape, on his hands and knees. He felt hands heaving him up, and then Aaron's face was before him.

"WE NEED TO RUN!" Aaron shouted, trying to get through to Josh. He reached into the car and grabbed their backpacks, then pulled Josh towards the forest, sprinting as fast as he could, not daring to look back. Josh followed, his senses coming back to him, feeling the intensity of the adrenaline in his body, willing him to run.

The men darted over the barrier of the side of the road, and down into the forest. Aaron lead, his longer legs carrying him faster than Josh. He was dimly aware of branches snapping under his feet and leaves hitting his cheeks. Josh focused on keeping up, fumbling to put on the backpack Aaron had thrust at him. The men kept running for what seemed like an eternity before either of them could bring themselves to look behind them. When they could no longer continue, they collapsed, each breath loud and desperate, letting out hacking coughs and wiping copious sweat from their bright red faces. Their limbs screamed for oxygen, aching and burning. Aaron was propped up against a tree, his eyes closed as he tried to regain control of his shaking hands. Josh was almost lying down completely, his hands over his face, his chest on fire. They were like this for almost 10 minutes, trying to overcome the feeling of disorientation and fear. The hot air was muggy and thick, and weighed down on them.

"Are you alright? Dude, talk to me." Aaron said, still panting lightly. He took off his backpack and grabbed his half empty bottle of water. Sighing at the small amount that was left, he managed to stop himself after a few small sips, and held the bottle out to Josh.

"I think so. Yeah, I'm ok." Josh replied, now sitting cross-legged. He shook his head when Aaron offered his water. "No, keep it. I've still got a full bottle." He drank some of his own water, and splashed a little on his face. "Fucking hell." He said, weakly.

"I don't think we should stay here much longer, who knows if he's following us or not." Aaron forced himself to stand, his legs still a little unsteady, and dusted himself off. He reached a hand out to his friend, who took it reluctantly, and helped him up. "Do you have anything useful in your bag?" He looked up, it was early afternoon now, and without the car, they might be walking for a while.

"Camera, torch, sunglasses, water... Oh, I have a couple of cereal bars I brought for the walk yesterday. I mean, I assume by 'anything useful' you mean food." Josh gave out a small laugh, putting the backpack on.

"Yeah, we should save them for now, you never know. I guess we should walk to the city? There must be people there. People who aren't like him." Aaron was glad that Josh seemed to be taking things in his stride, and wanted to get somewhere safe before dark.

"Well, seems like that's all we can do." Josh sighed. He wondered how long it would take to walk. He wished they still had all their camping supplies, they would be very useful now.

They walked towards the outskirts of the city, occasionally checking behind them. After walking in silence for fifteen minutes, Aaron spoke, his eyes on the dry ground in front of him. "Why didn't he kill us?"

Josh wasn't surprised at his question, he had been wondering the same. "I don't know. He killed... He killed her as soon as she got out of the car. He could have shot us while we ran, no problem." His voice failed him as he thought of the young girl they had tried to protect, only to see her murdered before their eyes.

"Maybe it was because she ran. Maybe he would have got us if we'd waited any longer than we did." Aaron frowned. It didn't make sense. He should have been glad to have made it out alive, but it seemed wrong to celebrate when someone had just died. Someone they may not have known, but an innocent human being nonetheless.

They went quiet again, walking through the afternoon heat. The mottled sunlight skipped across their faces through the reddening leaves overhead, and light breeze refreshed them. Soon the trees became more sparse, and they walked through some clearings. They ate a cereal bar each to regain some strength after their stressful day, and eventually they reached the outskirts of the city, an area of warehouses and small offices that stretched under the motorway that lead into the city centre. The buildings were red brick, old and uninviting. They emerged from between two of the buildings and onto a road used mostly by large lorries and goods vehicles looking around for anywhere that could be safe. Many of the building's metal security gratings were closed, and they didn't want to risk setting off any alarms.

"Do you think it's safe to go further into the city? I mean, can we get home?" Josh asked.

"I don't know, man. We still don't know what exactly is going on, but maybe we shouldn't risk it. We can always try tomorrow, it's going to get dark soon." Aaron was peering through the window of a mechanic's garage and into the dingy emptiness within.

Josh suddenly started beckoning him to come round the side of the building, and Aaron complied, curious. "What is it?" He said, in a hushed tone as Josh seemed to be on edge.

"Do you hear that? I think we should hide." Josh remained very still, and the two of them crouched behind some large bins beside the garage. They could hear something coming from further along the row of warehouses.

After a few seconds a large brown truck came down the road, and stopped only a few metres from where the men had been moments ago. A man wearing the same plated armour as the man who had killed the girl was standing on the outside of the truck, holding himself up with an external bar with his right hand, and gripping a large gun in the other. He hopped off, and walked slowly around, seemingly looking for something. Aaron and Josh held their breath, keeping their heads down.

"Shit, it's another one of those bastards. Are they, like, patrolling?" Josh whispered.

"But then why would they happen to stop right next to us? ...Oh, christ." Aaron replied. Josh looked at him and followed his gaze up to the side of the neighbouring building. A small camera was attached to the overhanging roof, and was scanning to the left and right, barely missing the place where the two men were hiding.

"You think they saw us through that? Crap, we've gotta move, he'll be checking around here any minute now!" Josh leant forwards, ready.

Aaron nodded. "Alright, let's make a run for it."

They hurried as quietly as they could, behind the building and away from the camera and the truck. Nearby they spotted a small warehouse and ran up the metal fire escape on the side, taking the stairs two at a time, making the whole thing shudder and clang, until they reached a small red door. It was stuck.

"Shit, I can't get it open!" Josh cursed, frantically checking behind them to see if they had been followed.

"Move." Aaron squared himself up to the door, and managed to force himself through after three hard knocks with his shoulder.

They fell into the dark building, whirled around and slammed the door shut again, panting. They had made it.

But before they could catch their breath, Aaron felt a hand grab his shoulder, and was spun round and pushed against the wall with sharp force. Josh turned just in time to see a large fist come sailing towards his face, before his jaw stung with pain and he, too, was cornered, his vision suddenly blurred. Pinned to the rough concrete wall, they found themselves facing two strangers, both holding weapons to their throats.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Revelations**

Aaron felt the coarse concrete pushing against his head, but he was surprisingly unhurt. He blinked slowly and regained his balance, looking at the person who had taken him by surprise. A woman, middle aged, with hair in tight curls tied behind her head stood before him. Her left hand pinned his shoulder to the wall and the other held a large wrench above her head, but she quickly released him and threw the wrench onto the ground with a loud clang, apparently relieved. Aaron was confused, but he was distracted by a groan to his left. Josh was holding the side of his face, his lip bleeding, and was being held back by the man standing in front of him. This man was tall but stocky, seemed a little older than the woman and certainly looked more formidable. He pushed hard on Josh's ribcage, and did not put down the bat he was holding.

"Hey, let him go. They're young, not gonna do anything to us." The woman said to her partner.

"You don't know that! If a couple of kids had broken our door down last week you wouldn't be so welcoming." The large man sneered. He had a thick Scottish accent, and spat with the words he emphasised.

"I get why you wanted to be careful when you heard them coming, but you don't need to hurt them." The woman walked over to him, taking the bat and pulling at his shoulder gently.

"Thanks." Josh gave a sarcastic grunt, looking at Ian with reproach, but he winced when he moved his jaw.

"Name's Sandra. He's my husband, Ian. He's sorry, by the way." She directed this at Josh. "What are you kids doing here?" She asked, examining Josh's face, which was still throbbing.

The warehouse was spacious, with a plain concrete floor spotted with stains and scratches. The plain brick walls held loose windows that had been painted black, and let in a breeze even when shut. The ceiling was lined with metal lights protected by metal grating, but none of them were on. Sandra began walking towards a corner of the warehouse floor which had two mattresses and a clutter of supplies, where the couple had apparently been staying.

"Uh, well we just got to the city, we've been out of town for a while... Do you know what's going on?" Aaron followed, Josh close behind.

"Alright, if you really don't know what's been happening, we ought to take this slow. Here. Sit. You look like you could do with a rest." She handed Josh a disinfectant wipe for his lip as he and Aaron sat on some crates. "Get these boys a warm drink, would ya?" She spoke to Ian, who looked disgruntled. "Now, why don't you tell us what you know. How did you get here?" She sat on the ground opposite them with a kind smile while Ian brought over two cans of hot soup from a small gas cooker.

They sat with the couple for a while, explaining where they had been and what had happened on their way into the city. The strangers seemed nice enough, and after a while Aaron and Josh warmed to them, letting down their guard. At this point the tiredness really hit them, and as they explained their speaking became more heated, the painful memory of the girl's death reminding them of the fear they had experienced.

"... so we figured we needed to get away from him - it. Whatever they are, and we saw the fire escape and came here." Josh finished, feeling better after tending to his injury. Sandra had listened patiently, and Ian had sat nearby, apparently disinterested.

"Well, I guess without contact from anyone you didn't know anything about what was going on in the cities then. You boys have been through a lot, but I'm afraid things aren't a pretty picture wherever you go. Those things you saw, the tall guys in metal armour? A load of them came out of nowhere on the night you went to your campsite. People thought maybe it was a political statement, maybe a new military sector, but soon as you got close they started taking people... Throwing them into containment vans and driving them away. But they killed some of us. They shot an old man right in front of me without hesitation, but they had plenty of chance to off me... But they spared nothing for the police. The blew up the department near us, and killed any officer they saw. Even the military showed up, but they didn't last long..." She looked at the ceiling, frowning. "They had tanks and trucks and huge weapons. No one stood a chance. All you could do is run, and that's how me and Ian got away. We ran and then we hid up here."

"Why would anyone do this?" Aaron challenged, his head in his hands.

"Damned if I know. There was no explanation, they just took over. They blocked phone networks and all that, and they're always patrolling the city. Using the cameras to spot strays. I reckon they must know there are people like us who are just hiding, and slowly, bit by bit, they're getting us." She sighed.

"Do you think there's anywhere that's safe?" Josh asked, concerned.

"You got families you're worried about? I'm sorry, kid. I just don't know. We can't contact anybody. The last we saw from the news or anything was an emergency broadcast that told everyone not to try to reason with the 'terrorists' and to stay away from anyone working with them. Great advice, right?" She chuckled, strangely animated despite the topic of conversation.

She stood up, and walked over to a door near where they had been sitting. "Actually... we had gone outside to look for supplies earlier, and we managed to kill one of them." Ian gave a satisfied grunt, smiling proudly.

"We brought him back cause we figured it'd be bad news if another one of them found him. We thought we might see what we can find out about them, but then we heard you two making a racket outside. I guess we can get back to that now." She put her hand on her hip, waiting to see what they thought.

Aaron and Josh stood, interested to see if they could gather who the enemy was. Sandra opened to door to reveal a small storage closet. There were metal shelves stacked with empty cardboard boxes and machinery parts. Propped against the wall was one of the grey armoured men, a gaping hole in the side of his torso, his head hanging limp. Small metal wires and tubes curled around the wound, seemingly part of the damaged armour. Josh winced and Aaron cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"We managed to use one of his own weapons against him. Did the job alright." Ian had reappeared, leaning on the inside of the door frame.

"Look here. The helmet seems attached to the rest of the armour. It's like the suit is one whole thing." Sandra crouched beside the dead man, and held out a pocket knife. "There's an area of fabric between the harder stuff, just around the neck. I think I can cut through it."

Aaron and Josh looked at each other uncertainly. "Are you sure it's safe?" The taller of the two asked, coming forward and crouching on the other side of the man, holding his head back to give Sandra a better angle.

She didn't answer, and started hacking through the fabric, having to rip away some of the softer plastic of the suit. When she had worked around most of it, she knelt back and paused.

"We ready for this then? Right, let's get this helmet off." She and Aaron tugged the helmet off with some effort, and the dead man's head rolled forwards once more.

When he saw the man's face, Aaron recoiled in horror, letting out a small, low cry of disgust. He shifted away slightly, unable to take his eyes off it.

"What the- What _is_ that?!" Josh stood behind his friend, peering down at the face of the man, similarly shocked.

The man's skin was a cold dark grey, lifeless, lined with dark red capillaries and purple spots that resembled bruises. The area around his eyes was heavily blackened and his eyes themselves were completely white, his lips pale. He looked hollow; inhuman. But what was most disturbing about the man's face was that there were thin black tubes emerging from his skin. They seemed to burst through the surface at some points, then wound back into his head, tiny blue lights lining them. This was no man, not any more.

"Jesus..." Sandra let out a whisper.

"What the fuck happened to this guy? ...Are they all like this?" Aaron said, his voice shaking faintly.

Sandra put the helmet back on the abomination, to cover it once more. She gestured that they should go back to the larger room. Ian still seemed proud that they had managed to take one down, and gave it one last look before shutting the door.

When they could think straight, the four of them discussed what might have happened to the man. They agreed that it was probably the same story for all the armoured soldiers, and that whatever they were, the soldiers were no longer the people they had once been. This explained the motivations of the enemy, but how or why this was done to them, they still had no idea. Josh decided to take a picture of the dead man's face with his camera, just in case.

"Uh, what're you doing exactly?" Aaron asked. "D'you fancy him or something?" He laughed, poking fun at his friend as if it were any normal day.

"Oh, ha-ha, shut up. It's just in case. Could be useful." Josh replied, leaving the supply closet once more.

After their eventful day they were exhausted, and found that night had fallen by the time they had stopped talking. With little other choice, they settled down around the corner from Sandra and Ian, ready to try and sleep.

Lying on his side on the cold floor and his head resting on his backpack, Josh stared into the darkness of the warehouse. Now alone with his thoughts, his mind drifted to his family. He wondered whether his younger brother Alex was safe, but thinking about what might have happened was painful. He hugged his jacket closer around him, and tried his best to fall asleep.

Aaron lay on his back, one of his long arms resting on his forehead. He gazed up at the ceiling, wondering about the people he was worried about. Had they made it out of the city? Were they thinking of him? He thought of his house and how he would never be able to go back. Suddenly something came to mind - he had left an empty tea mug on his desk, and felt a tiny pang of guilt for not clearing it up. '_Silly, the things you remember,' _He thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Josh awoke to hear faint shuffling and the occasional clang. He sat up, realising that he had moved about a metre in his sleep, and his right cheek was cold from being pressed to the floor. Looking to his left he saw Aaron was still sleeping soundly, so he stood up and went around the corner. Ian was down on one knee before the small gas cooker on the floor, stirring something. When he heard Josh, he turned, and gave a small, forced smile.

"Morning. How're you feeling?" He asked, trying to make amends for hurting Josh when they first met.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Josh returned a smile out of courtesy. "Where's, uh, Sandra?"

"On the roof. Woman can't sit still for more than ten minutes... She likes keeping watch." Ian said, affection coming through his gruff tone.

Later, Sandra came back into the room through a back door. By this time, Josh and Aaron were eating some porridge Ian had made, awake but still groggy eyed.

"Morning, boys." She was holding a small pair of binoculars, which she placed on the floor in front of her as she sat down, cross legged and leaning back on her arms.

Ian was yet again detached, lying down away from the others. "Everything alright?" He asked, remaining still.

Sandra brought her left hand to her face, rubbing her forehead. "Those damn soldiers are everywhere. Patrolling. And I'm pretty sure they caught someone a little ways down the road, they had one of those snatcher vans they use for taking people away."

His mind still slow from sleep, Aaron blinked, trying to wake himself up. "How come they haven't got us then?"

"Cause we're careful." Ian grunted.

"Well careful won't do for much longer. I don't think we can stay here anymore." Sandra turned to look at the two young men. "Me and Ian were planning on heading up to Scotland when we could. He's got family there, and they had a place a little ways out from any cities, where we could go."

"Oh, right." Josh nodded.

"Where can we go? I mean, is there anywhere that's safe?" Aaron leant forwards, seeing that Sandra was implying that they would have to split up.

"Well you could try heading South... Truth is all we know is that the city's aren't safe, but lots of people got out. They must be holed up somewhere, somewhere the soldiers haven't got them. You might find somewhere safe." Sandra felt guilty for having to leave the men, but had little choice.

Although still unclear as to what their plan was, the consensus that they had to leave the warehouse was the driving force, and the group gathered their supplies, splitting the small amount of food they had. They also decided to check the other floors of the warehouse for supplies. Aaron found a lighter and a large crowbar, which he strapped to the outside of his backpack. Josh took a first aid kit he found in a downstairs office area, along with some batteries. The group left the warehouse and the dead soldier inside it, and paused under cover of some large skips behind the building.

"Alright. This is where we leave it, then. Let's get going." Ian said bluntly, barely giving Aaron and Josh a real goodbye as he walked to the corner of the building, looking around for any signs of movement. The others paused.

"Thank you so much for everything." Aaron gave Sandra a small smile.

"Yeah, everything except nearly knocking me out." Josh laughed, though genuinely grateful for the help.

Sandra turned to the two young men, and then, quite suddenly, gave them a quick, firm hug. Pulling back but leaving her hands on their shoulders, she looked at them both. "I had a son, you know. I'd like to think he would have turned out to be just like you two." With a sad smile, she began walking away to join her husband. "You stay safe out there." And with that, her tightly curled hair disappeared around the corner.

"Right... I guess it's time to go, then." Aaron said to no one in particular, his thoughts dwelling on the fact that they would never see the couple again.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Josh turned to face the direction they had agreed to go, which would take them away from the city and to areas of woodland they could walk South through.

As they walked away from the warehouse both the men glanced back several times at the city they had once called home. The quiet had settled over it like a blanket of dust, muting the past activity and life of the place. Aaron held the straps of his heavy backpack, looking at the floor ahead of him. Pieces of debris and personal belongings of people long gone lay strewn across the paths and the ground was scorched in places. Josh held a key-ring in his right hand, a miniature plushie of his Minecraft skin hanging from it. He turned it over in his hands, twisting it distractedly. All they could do was take things one step at a time, or the uncertainty of what their goal was or what they were doing would overcome them. When they reached the tree lining the edge of the forest area at the bottom of a long slope, it was approaching midday. The sun was still strong, but as the month went on the wind had been picking up.

"Is it bad that I already want to eat lunch?" Josh asked, only half joking.

"Jesus, man. You're gonna have to last a bit longer than that, or I'm leaving you behind." Aaron teased.

They ate an hour later, checking a map to get a sense of their general location, and continued the seemingly never-ending walk to an unknown destination. After walking for two more hours, the pair were in the middle of an argument when Aaron spotted something.

"... look, I'm just saying that if it has to be the end of the world, cyborg people aren't so bad. But obviously if I was trying to wipe out humanity I'd use hybrid tentacle-monster killing machines. Just _way_ more efficient." Josh spoke loudly, with his usual humour.

"You're fucking ridiculous." Aaron said, exasperated but chuckling, unable to pretend he didn't appreciate his friend's exuberance. He was about to speak again, but as he tilted his head back to look over his shoulder at Josh something caught his eye. "Hey. Look up there." He held up his arm, pointing upwards.

Above the canopy of browning trees was a thin plume of light grey smoke, rising out of the forest quite far from the two men, curving gently to the side as it ascended into the sky.

"Do you think it's smoke from a campfire? There could be people there, we have to go and see!" Josh started walking in the direction of the smoke, a new found spring in his step.

"Yeah but wait, wait... We don't know what it might actually be." Aaron hesitated.

"Dude, cyborgs don't need campfires. And where else can we go? Come on, this might be good." Josh encouraged his friend, eager to see what they might find at the source of the smoke. His curiosity outweighing his cautiousness, Aaron concurred.

They found that they were further from the source than they had seemed at first, walking through the now dense forest and its thick underbrush. After a few minutes, the smoke they had spotted seemed to be thinning, and after an hour it disappeared altogether, but the two men kept walking in the same direction nonetheless, desperate to find something. They manoeuvred carefully up and down the steep slopes of the terrain, working up an appetite as their legs began to suffer from the amount of walking they had been doing, and the lack of sustenance to keep them going. Eventually areas of the forest thinned, and they were close to the source of the smoke. They found themselves at the top of a hill, giving them a good view of what was ahead of them. Aaron crouched down, and through the thick tree trunks he saw the side of a large tent, and behind it a caravan.

"Holy shit, Josh. I think there _are_ people here! We might have found something good for a change!" Aaron couldn't help but smile hopefully.

Not wanting to cause any alarm, the pair kept close, walking slowly towards the nearest tent. As they emerged from the denser part of the forest, they got a better look at the area. There were, in fact, three more tents spread out from each other, though one of these was very small. The caravan was quite large, fairly worn but sturdy looking, and next to it stood a set of plastic furniture: A table and three chairs. The source of the smoke soon became apparent. In a central area, surrounded by blankets laid out on the floor was a large campfire. It didn't seem particularly expertly constructed, but it was burning steadily, a few metal cans nestled in among the smouldering hot wood at the bottom of the flames. Aaron and Josh came out from behind the tent to see a small group of people spread around the campsite.

"People. Just normal people." Josh said quietly, though both men were visibly relieved. They saw a woman and a man next to the caravan, likely in their thirties, kneeling before some supplies and bags that were strewn across the ground before them. A young man with blond hair who looked to be a similar age as Aaron and Josh was draping some wet clothes on a washing line hung on the outside of the caravan. Beside the fire, his back to the pair, was a much older man with grey hair and a walking stick at his side. He was tending to the cans that seemed to be cooking something in the fire, speaking to a young girl of nine or ten who sat next to him, with dark skin and even darker hair.

Aaron took a deep breath, then stepped out into view alongside Josh and cleared his throat, ready to make their presence known. "Hello?" He almost shouted this, not wanting them to be suspicious.

"Hello yourself." A voice came from their right, a little behind them, taking them by surprise. When they turned, they found themselves facing a girl only a little younger than themselves, with dark brown hair tied up into a ponytail which flicked down just over her shoulder. The other members of the camp had heard Aaron, and they turned to look at the commotion. However, they mostly stayed where they were, except for the young blond man, who approached, stopping so he stood between the camp and Aaron and Josh.

"Right, first thing's first. You're not here to steal or kill us?" The girl challenged, a hand on her hip and a knife tucked through her belt. She wore black jeans, a loose t-shirt and heavy military style boots.

"No, no, definitely not! We just wanted to see what was here." Aaron said firmly, trying to avoid and conflict.

"Yeah, and it wasn't exactly hard to find you here, with that smoke signal earlier." Josh said sarcastically, gesturing to the fire.

"Damn. Yeah. That was a mistake." The blond man spoke, a smooth tone to match his friendly face. He had his hands tucked in the front pockets of his light blue jeans, seemingly quite relaxed. His white shirt was slightly dirty and creased.

"Did you use green wood? Green wood makes a lot of smoke." Josh said. Aaron frowned, looking very taken aback at his friend's sudden wisdom.

"Why do you even know that?" Aaron asked in a jokey manner.

"...I read the Hunger Games." Josh admitted, grinning.

"_We_ didn't use green wood. It was Dave. But we fixed it now." The girl laughed, more relaxed now she saw that the pair were no threat. "Anyway, I'm Alexa. This is Chris. I'll introduce you to the others if you want. I'm assuming you're not just going to leave straight away?"

"Well, we don't exactly have anywhere else we can go at the moment." Aaron shrugged, though still happy to have found friendly faces. "Oh, and I'm Aaron. He's Josh."

"That's ok. You can stay here for as long as it works, really." Chris smiled.

"Well then. Aaron, Josh, welcome to our humble abode. Let's get you settled." Alexa walked towards the other people around the campsite, as Chris gave the pair another smile, before returning to hanging up clothes.

"You think they're ok?" Aaron said quietly to Josh as they followed her.

Josh thought for a moment. "Probably. But right now we just need to be somewhere safe, and this is the best we've got."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
**

Later that evening, when the sun had disappeared below the horizon but its light still lingered in the reddening sky, Aaron and Josh sat among the group of people around the campfire. They had spent the last hour meeting the other members of the camp, which had gone fairly well. They learned that the thirty-something year old man and woman were in fact brother and sister, Laura and Callum, who had come up to Huddersfield to visit their parents. The siblings seemed to find each other somewhat antagonising, but were playful in their fights. The older man had a strict face but seemed friendly enough, introducing himself as David, but saying little else to the newcomers. Finally was the young girl, Christina. Her dark skin and slight accent came from her Puerto Rican roots, and her energy was bright and lively. Alexa told them that Christina had been split up from her father as they fled the city, where he was trying to find work, and that David had taken care of the girl since.

Josh was prying open a can of beans he had been cooking in the campfire, but when he looked inside he saw that one side of the contents was burnt black and almost solid.

"Oh Jesus. who put Josh in charge of cooking? This guy can burn anything." Aaron said jokingly.

"Shut up, man! It cooks faster than you think." Josh replied, acting offended.

The group laughed, thankful that the newcomers brought with them a good sense of humour.

"Hey, have you guys got somewhere to sleep? Tents or anything?" Callum asked, looking up from the transmitter radio in his lap. He had been trying to fix it, with little progress. He wore a brown jumper and black cargo pants, his hair was a sandy brown like his sister's, and stubble covered his wide jaw.

"Uh, no. Not really." Aaron sighed.

"It's ironic, we had a car full of camping supplies. Wouldn't it be nice if we still had that." Josh muttered sarcastically.

Callum wondered why they no longer had the car, but there was an understanding now that everyone had stories of what happened to them since the soldiers came, and more often than not, those stories were not happy ones. He chose not to ask.

"Ironic, or just plain annoying." Alexa smiled. "I guess we're lucky. David has a bed in his caravan - Christina's been sleeping on the sofa in there - and the rest of us have tents we got from the city yesterday."

"I'd feel bad if you two had to sleep out here... I can move into my brother's tent, then you can either share mine or take turns." Laura spoke cheerfully as she stood up, rolling up the sleeves of her plaid shirt as she turned to pick up a can of soup she was warming by the fire.

"Oh, _fantastic_." Callum said, not looking up from the radio, grinning. Laura responded with a gentle punch to his shoulder.

"Are you sure?" Aaron asked, grateful at the prospect of having some shelter for the nights.

"Yeah, honestly it's fine. We shared a room as kids, I'm sure we'll survive." Callum smiled.

As it got dark, the group dispersed, leaving the fire to burn out slowly. The tent was actually fairly large, so Aaron and Josh would be able to sleep on either side with plenty of space between them. Josh had gone with Chris to collect some water in empty litre soft drink bottles from a small pond in the woods. They would filter and boil the water to clean it the next morning. Aaron emerged from the tent and headed to grab his backpack, which he had left by the campfire. As he walked over to it, he passed David, holding Christina's hand. The girl gave him a wave, before running ahead and darting into the caravan. Aaron smiled to himself as David sat down on one of the plastic chairs and wearily pulled out a cigarette, surveying the area. Two people were still be the fire: Callum, tidying away the various parts of the transmitter radio, and Alexa, who was sitting cross legged, playing an old guitar quietly, singing under her breath.

"Thanks again for the tent, Callum. There's enough room for us both." Aaron said as he bent down to pick up his bag.

"No problem, mate. You can pay me back by coming with me tomorrow to try and find food." Callum grinned, tucking away the radio into a box and standing up. "But for now, try and get some rest. Night, Lex." He said to Alexa, before heading toward his now shared tent.

"Sleep well." Alexa replied, still picking at the strings gently.

Aaron paused for a moment, looking up at the dark sky. "I used to play, too." He said to her, nodding at the guitar.

"David had it in his caravan, so I figured why not, gives me a bit of peace of mind." She said, standing up and dusting off her jeans. "We should probably sleep soon, it's hard to lie in when it's so bright in the mornings."

"Thank you for letting us stay like this, by the way. You could've easily told us to keep walking." Aaron said, putting one strap of his backpack over his shoulder.

"Hey, no problem! The world's gone to shit, can't be choosy these days." She laughed, before turning and walking towards her tent. "Goodnight," she said over her shoulder.

Later, Josh and Chris returned to the camp carrying four bottles of murky water. It looked unappetising, but with dwindling supplies of fresh drinks, soon it would be all they had. They set up two of the bottles to filter through a dishcloth from the caravan overnight, thanked each other for the help, then retired to their tents. Josh ducked into the tent where Aaron was kneeling, laying out a small blanket he had got from David and using a torch to see.

"Hey, you alright?" Aaron asked, looking up.

"Oh yeah, don't mind me. Just doing all the real work while you relax." Josh said dryly.

"Don't get started, you volunteered to help him!" He said with a stern tone.

Josh sat on his side of the tent, trying to find something in his bag. "I know, what can I say? I'm just a really nice person."

Aaron let out a laugh, before lying down, feeling that the ground beneath him was cold, though softer than the concrete that had been his bed the previous night. It seemed they had been in the city so long ago, whereas in reality they were only half a day's walk away. Eventually tiredness fell over them, and they slept peacefully that night, despite the cold.

The next morning the sun rose a few minutes before six o'clock, and by half past its rays skimmed over the tops of the trees surrounding the camp, illuminating the forest's colours. As autumn came nearer, the leaves grew darker, a few trees already sporting deep reds and oranges. Aaron awoke to a painfully dry throat in the chilled air of dawn, his extremities slightly numb, rubbing his eyes in response to the brightness. He opened the zip of the tent and put his shoes on awkwardly, his long legs not a good fit for the small space. In his sleep Josh had cocooned himself quite efficiently under his blanket, but stirred at the sound of movement, waking up with a groan at the ache in his back thanks to the uncomfortable sleeping conditions.

Standing unsteadily and stretching, Aaron looked around at the camp as he walked towards the communal area of the fire, leaving his friend to wake up in his own time. The caravan's small windows were still covered by the curtains, and he thought that they were lucky to be able to sleep undisturbed. He couldn't tell if the other tents were empty, but soon saw that there were a few other people up already. Chris was tending to the water they had left to filter overnight, carrying it towards the fire, that Callum was adding wood to. Alexa was going through the food supply, grabbing three packets of dry porridge to cook as breakfast for everyone.

"Morning! The water went through the cloth well, I'm just gonna get it boiled so that it's clean." Chris said, his cheerful demeanour evidently enduring.

"Boiled? Hm... Do we happen to have any tea?" Aaron asked, half joking, as he approached.

"Actually, you could check the cupboards in the caravan. No milk though, of course." Callum said as he used a long stick to poke the burning embers.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, and decided he may as well have a look to make use of the hot water. By the time the sun was fully risen into the sky and the wet dew on the grass was beginning to lift, Josh had woken up, and joined the others, who were now gathered around the fire. Only the oldest and youngest of the group had yet to show themselves.

"Is that tea? How did you manage to magic up some _tea_ right now?" Josh asked as he sat down on one of the blankets on the ground, taking the small bowl of watery porridge that Chris handed him.

"I have my ways." Aaron grinned, cupping the mug in his hands to warm himself.

"Right then, now that we're mostly up, we should think about making a run to try and find some food. " Callum said, standing over the group.

"Agreed. It seems like we've got a lot now, but it'll go down quickly. Plus, with two extra people we don't have to leave David and Christina alone without defence." Alexa said, putting down the book she was reading.

"Who's gonna stay then?" Callum replied, looking at the members of the original group. It seemed they had already decided that Josh and Aaron would be coming on the run.

"Laura and I could stay. We can get more water, see if we can find anything useful nearby." Chris said, tilting his head to the side at Laura to see if she agreed.

"Alright, sounds good. You two ok to come with us? There's a service station off the main road a couple of miles from here, we're hoping there will still be some food left." Alexa directed this at Aaron and Josh.

The pair nodded and voiced their agreement, and the group planned to be ready to leave in half an hour. Aaron and Josh went to grab their bags, glad that they seemed to have a plan to keep them busy. David and Christina were now awake, and wished the others luck along with Chris and Laura, who were setting off in the other direction to collect more water. Callum and Alexa led the way, having scouted out the area around the camp previously. They pointed out roughly where the camp was on a map; a little north of the Peak District national park, which explained the large forests and number of rivers in the area.

"Where are you thinking of going? I mean, we can't stay camped there forever." Aaron asked as they walked at quite a quick pace through the underbrush of the woods.

"Well, we all sort of stumbled across each other by accident, trying to get away from the city. Didn't really have a direction to go in other than 'away from the chaos'." Alexa replied, a large brown hiking rucksack on her back, which was mostly empty to accommodate what supplies they might find. Aaron and Josh had almost forgotten about what Sandra had told them had happened in the city.

Callum spoke up, slowing down slightly to walk in line with the two men. "Before me and Laura met the others, we were with this family for a bit. Got split up. They were going South to try and find other survivors. Heard of some 'safe zones' and wanted to try and start settlements where people could live. They were probably just staying positive in front of their kids, but..." He trailed off.

They kept walking, talking a little and occasionally pausing to check the map, going for just under two hours, when they begun to see the motorway down to their right.

"Alright! At least we know we're not lost." Callum smiled.

As they kept in the woods but followed the curve of the motorway, they kept an eye out for any movement. Through the trees they could see cars wrecked and left behind dotted down the roads, reminding the two young men of where they had been only days before. Josh was about to voice his thirst when the grey brick of the service station appeared, and the group came to a stop at the edge of the woods. There was about two hundred yards of open space between them and the large car park that was, unsurprisingly, mostly empty. They saw that the large sign listing the names of the shops inside had been partially destroyed, but names of familiar brands were still discernible, advertising various cafes and convenience stores. All jackpots for finding food and supplies.

"Ok. Let's get us some food." Aaron smiled, the thought of some proper sustenance urging him on.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The four of them paused, looking at the building. It was dull and had an industrial feel to it, run down a little over the years. What caught their attention was the large black writing on the front: _'Nikki and Jeff come to St Ives. Safe. We will wait.' _was scrawled in large, messy letters in spray paint. They considered this, each of them wondering who the people were and whether they were safe. Alexa looked at the ground and shook her head, forcing the thoughts out of her head.

"Alright, we can't really avoid being out in the open, so we run to the back of the building and find a way in quickly. Ok?" She said quietly, crouched down on the ground and leaning forward, focused.

"Wait, are there gonna be cyborg guys in there?" Josh asked, frowning.

"Cyborgs? Uh, no. ... And we just call them soldiers. 'Cyborg' is too Sci-fi." Callum replied, slowly moving closer to the edge of the tree line.

"They stay in the cities mainly, don't patrol this far out. We should be fine." Alexa clipped the straps of her rucksack together across her front, then turned to the others, "Ready? Let's go."

At once they all stood and made a run for the back of the building, staying close together with Alexa leading, while Callum followed behind, turning now and then to check the area was still clear. They slowed to a light jog once behind the tall grey building, and went through the staff entrance in the back, leading to a small locker room with a table and chairs, all a dull grey colour.

"Alright, perfect!" Callum smiled, still out of breath, moving through to the lockers, opening all ten but only finding staff uniforms.

"Ok, we should go check the shops and restaurants. Through there?" Aaron asked, panting slightly as he pointed to the red door at the far end of the room.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Alexa shrugged.

Callum walked over to the door and opened it cautiously. Through the crack the group saw the dirty linoleum floor stretching out ahead and multiple shops. Directly ahead, a small Costa, WH Smith and Tesco Metro. Upstairs was a small clothes shop and a Muffin Break. In other words, food.

"Holy shit, this is perfect." Josh said, stepping out into the large open area. "Also, real toilets." He pointed to the signs indicating restrooms.

"Alright, let's split up. There's probably some food left, but it looks like people have been through here before." Callum walked over to the Tesco Metro, opening the bag he had brought. "And yeah, we should make the most of having running water." He laughed, disappearing into the shop.

They spent the next twenty minutes spread through the service station, shoving everything useful they could find into their bags. It was clear that other people had already been through to take things, but they must have done a quick sweep, leaving at least a little behind. Callum turned from the canned food he was stashing into his bag, and faced the tiny pharmacy section of the shop. He let out a sigh. Most of the useful medicines had been taken, leaving only a few packets of pain killers and less important items, from hayfever treatments to sleeping pills. He threw the pain killers, some plasters and small bandages into his bag, then left the shop, heading upstairs.

"Ah man, that feels better." Alexa was emerging from the women's bathroom, having washed her face and hair in the sink.

Josh was inside Costa, grabbing any food that was packaged and would last. Aaron had been in the other cafe and had also gone through what was left in the Tesco, so his bag was fairly full. He walked into Costa, where Josh was ducked behind the counter, searching. Hearing his friend come in, Josh popped up suddenly, and leant nonchalantly on the counter, facing Aaron.

"Hi, welcome to Costa. What can I get you?" He grinned.

Aaron jumped at his sudden appearance, but laughed when he realised what he was doing. "Jesus! You're so ridiculous." They both smiled, and Aaron was about to say something when their attention was drawn away, to a loud sound at the front of the building.

Alexa ran out of the shop she was in, and looked out of the glass doors of the entrance. Aaron and Josh began to move to see what was going on, when they heard her curse loudly as there was a deafening bang and front doors were completely shattered, the glass flying into the building and the steel supports bending inwards. The two men looked around the corner and saw one of the all too familiar armoured trucks across the car park, and two of the soldiers standing either side, holding large guns. They were approaching the building, fast.

"Shit shit shit! Callum!" Alexa walked backwards, towards Aaron and Josh and towards the back door they had come in through. They all looked up, to see Callum was still upstairs on the walkway. The only stairs were facing the entrance, meaning he would have to go dangerously close to the soldiers to get down.

Callum could hear the other three yelling and shouting for him to get down, but his legs were frozen, his whole body shaken to the core with fear. He had no time, if he ran down the stairs he would be too close to the soldiers, who were still advancing. Gritting his teeth, he spun round and in one swift motion, threw his body over the metal barrier of the walkway, hanging on with his hands, before dropping fifteen feet to the hard ground below. His body hit the floor with huge force, and his left ankle taking the brunt of the force even though he tried to roll over to take some of the momentum. He was dazed for a second, but Aaron and Alexa were soon gripping his shoulders and heaving him up and towards the door, where Josh stood holding it open, beckoning for them to hurry. The four of them ran desperately fast into the locker room, where Aaron turned to block the door by sliding the table and chairs in front of it, before dashing out into the open.

"GO!" Aaron yelled.

They sprinted back the way they came, across the open area, towards the forest. One of the soldiers was blasting its way through the hastily blocked door, but the other one had backtracked and come around to the side, and despite being far away, had an open shot at the four people running to the trees. It raised its gun, and fired three shots at Callum, who was a little slower than the others, only able to sprint thanks to the adrenaline blocking out the pain in his ankle. He was limping and clutching his right arm. Only metres from the woods, Callum stumbled for a moment, causing the first shot to go behind him, but the second two whizzing in front of his face. Alexa grabbed his wrist, pulling him to go faster. The group reached the cover of the trees at immense speed, gasping for air but willing themselves to continue. They kept running for a while, but soon Callum began to feel a searing pain in his left ankle, and he slowed down, holding a hand up to get the others' attention.

"Guys- guys, please... one minute..." He breathed heavily, putting his bag on the ground and slumping down to rest. Aaron, Josh and Alexa stopped, but kept looking around, the threat of the soldiers still very real in their minds.

"Do you think we're ok to stop for a bit?" Josh asked, getting his breath back.

"Shit..." Alexa was kneeling at Callum's feet, examining his ankle. "He's hurt. I don't know if it's broken or what, but it's not good."

"I'll be ok. I just can't run..." Callum was staring at his own ankle, which was bent to an unnatural angle. He felt bruises coming up on his back and arms from his earlier fall, and his right arm was limp. "Bag. I have bandages. And my shoulder, I think it's popped out..." He reached his hand out toward his bag, which Aaron opened.

"Ok, we need to fix him up before we can keep going. Either of you two know have first aid experience?" Alexa asked, looking with sympathy at Callum.

The two young men shook their heads. After a short discussion, they decided to deal with the shoulder first. Josh gave Callum a piece of rolled fabric to bite on, and Alexa and Aaron held his arm out straight.

"Ok, ready?" Aaron looked at Alexa, who nodded. With significant force, they pushed the arm upwards, forcing it back into the socket. They could feel the bones grinding against each other horribly, and Callum, his eyes tightly shut, let out a loud groan through the fabric in his mouth, which he was biting down on, hard. They pushed harder until the shoulder finally popped back into place. Callum relaxed his body and panted. They managed to bandage up his ankle very tightly to try and keep it straight.

"Thanks, guys. It should be ok for now." Callum said, already trying to stand up again.

"Woah, woah. Are you ok to walk?" Aaron frowned, still concerned.

"Yeah. Honestly. We just need to get back to camp, then I can rest." Possibly embarrassed to seem so helpless as the oldest out of the four, Callum stood up and dusted himself off, determined to get back.

The three younger members of the group shrugged, and got ready to start walking back. Aaron was bending down to pick up Callum's bag, but Alexa took it before he could.

"I don't mind carrying-" He began.

"It's not too heavy, I'm fine. Besides, he needs someone close to his height to support him." Alexa gestured to Callum.

Josh agreed to carry Aaron's bag so he could help Callum across the uneven terrain. Reluctantly, Callum let the young man take some of his weight, and they began making their way shakily up and down the slopes of the forest. The four of them walked mostly in silence for a long time, keeping an eye out for any signs of the soldiers. It looked clear, since they hadn't gone too near the road, and the soldiers seemed to move around in groups in the trucks most of the time. When they got back to camp it was past midday, and they had worked up an appetite.

As they emerged from the woods, slightly more dishevelled they had been, Laura was waiting for them. Her smile and wave soon dropped when she saw the state of her brother, and she ran over, almost tearing up. Though the other three tried to reassure her, she shrugged them off aggressively and took Callum to their tent to let him rest, clearly worried. Chris emerged from the caravan, where he had been entertaining Christina with a card game.

"I'll talk to Chris. Can you start going through the supplies?" Alexa said, handing over the two heavy bags she was holding. She went over to Chris to explain what had happened.

Aaron and Josh felt the exhaustion of the day weighing down on them, and sat by the fire, organising the supplies they had brought back from the service station. As he picked up the second bag, Aaron saw that a bullet had torn through the side of it, puncturing a hole in some of the cans inside.

"How are we even alive?" He wondered out loud.

"I dunno. But it's like what Sandra said, the soldiers don't just kill people, they capture them. Maybe that's why?" Josh responded.

Looking up, Aaron saw that Alexa was still talking to Chris. She looked angry, and hit the caravan with her fist out of frustration. On an impulse, Chris suddenly drew her into a tight, somewhat awkward, embrace.

Aaron gave a slight smile, then turned his attention back to the food. "Well, at least we can take it easy for the rest of the day."


End file.
